ABC builds 'Nashville' buzz with Internet premiere

"Nashville" premieres Wednesday night, but some audiences have already discovered it online as ABC uses a new marketing strategy of releasing the pilot online prior to the TV debut.

The show has been posted on ABC's website since Oct. 4, and the pilot has since been linked to on several media websites, building buzz before the show hits the airways. The early access to the show is meant to build word-of-mouth publicity, according to Marla Provencio, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of ABC Entertainment Group.

"Nashville is a top priority show for ABC with great content that we believe in," Provencio said in an email. "We have a tremendous marketing campaign that sells the show to a wide-ranging audience but felt releasing the pilot prior to air would let the engaging creative speak for itself. Since word of mouth is important for a show like this, we wanted to reach the masses with broad sampling, so we partnered with Amazon, Hulu and iTunes in addition to posting the pilot on ABC.com."

The preview indicates high expectations for the show, said Billy Pittard, chair for Middle Tennessee State University's Electronic Media Communication Department.

"They probably have confidence the show is going to generate buzz," Pittard said, adding that the technique could be particularly effective with younger audiences, who are more likely to be online and share the show with friends. "The reason they do that is if they have a lot of confidence the show is going to be hot."

While the show does a run the risk of losing viewers on opening night by offering the pilot earlier, the online audience might be a different audience and the Tweets or online postings generated is more likely to drive interest than detract, Pittard said.

ABC used the same pre-release technique with "Last Resort." Other shows that have premiered online include "Emily Owens, M.D." and "The New Normal."